A collection of first responders from five different departments gathered Monday to practice rescues from a cliff above the Clackamas river.
It only takes a moment
for a driver to lose control and plunge down to the water below.
“You notice all these roads, seems like when you go out in the wilderness like this, you’re right by the river. And usually there’s not much, usually an embankment right there so we do get a lot of situations where we get cars over the embankments,” said Lt. Steve Hoffeditz from Clackamas Fire District 1.
Summer warnings come from other areas too.
Now that the sun’s out, it’s time to remember the value of sun glasses. UV rays from the sun can cause glaucoma and other issues, including a sunburn of the eye.
“Well, when you’re outdoors and the sun is hitting the front surface of the eye there it can dry it out and cause extreme dryness and cause like a sunburn to your eye,” said Dr. Ryan Gorger.
Gorger is an optometrist who says we should wear eye protection year round.
It drives him crazy when he sees kids in the sun without dark glasses.
“Oh of course yes! And especially with younger ones. It’s very important to keep younger kids protected from radiation from the sun,” he said.
Speaking of protection, now that the public pools are open its time to protect yourself from chlorine in the water.
“Use sunscreen for sure but you don’t need to just be globbed up and just smothered and smeared in it because that will make that chlorine attack you that much more,” said Andy Amato. He’s the District Aquatics Coordinator for Portland Parks and Recreation.
All Portland city pools have chlorine in the water to kill germs. But that rinsing shower the lifeguards want you to take before you get in the pool? It’s to protect you from the chlorine.
“Because if you are covered in sweat and dirt or what ever else, that chlorine automatically just globs on to you and it makes you itchy and it makes you smell and it uses it up basically,” he said.
Wilson pool has an automatic system that adds more chlorine to the water after swimmers take some home on their bodies.
The pool uses hundreds of pounds each week.